05 June 2009

Random Beer Roundup - The Arcade Game Edition

Often I abbreviate Random Beer Roundup as "RBR". And recently, I tried pronouncing "RBR" and it sounded like "Ribber", which I thought might be either a processed (but tasty) sandwich from McDonald's or some kinky toy made of latex. Which caused me to consider (briefly) spinning off from HBG and starting a new website:

www.hoosierbbqsandwichandsextoygeek.com

But I suspect the audience is pretty limited (though I'm betting that Ted Miller would visit it more frequently than he does HBG). So it then crossed my mind that Ribber could be a retro arcade game, with the goal of the game being to make it past speeding Bud, Miller, and Coors beer trucks and over a river of swill beer to get to the craft breweries on the other side.

Or maybe all those super hopped beers are destroying my brain cells.

Remember, if you have anything you want to share with HBG, drop us an email at hoosierbeergeek@gmail.com. C'mon people, get hoppy! It's time for Random Beer Roundup!

Come join your locals for a great tasting and release! There will be a 1/6brl of Canadian Breakfast Stout tapped at 6pm followed by a 1/6 brl. of Old Crumudgeon! Bring only 1 beer with you to taste with the others(So choose wisely!)and come drink some nectar with your fellow beer lovers! Contact Mike Sprinkles via email or at (317) 706-0850 for more information

Saturday, June 13th, 5-10pm at Upland Brewing in Bloomington:Radfest beer festival, $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Tickets are now being sold online here.

Friday, June 19th and Saturday, June 20th at Crown Brewing in Crown Point:Summerfest: Live Music, food, bean bag tourney, bounce/jump houses and "some of the best beer money can buy."

Monday, June 22nd at Beer Sellar in Indianapolis:Big Bell's Brewing tapping, a record breaking 30 different Bell's beers on tap at once.

LBC will be introducing a new growler size beginning next week. Look for 1-liter flip top bottles to be added to the list of carry-out containers. We've been working with a local company, Sign Experts, to come up with a unique and distinctive vinyl label set for this container. Initial release date will be Saturday, June 13. New 1-liter growlers will be available with prices starting at $9 + tax with refills available for $5 + tax. We'll also offer discounted refills of $4 + tax on Tuesdays (Growler Refill Day).

Summer FESTCome join us June 19th and 20th for Crown Brewing's 1st Annual Summer Fest. Great Food, Live Music, Bounce / Jump Houses for the kids, Beanbag Tourneys and some of the BEST beer money can buy.

FYI we have 6 bands planned over the two days, City held Bean Bag rentals and tournament on Fri & Sat. This is an outdoor event, open for the whole family, no matter the age.

If you’re a beer aficionado residing in the Louisville metro area, you probably already know that this coming Saturday, June 6, is the occasion for Fest of Ale, which owner Todd Antz of Clarksville’s Keg Liquors seems willing and able to grow into a true signature event.

In three years, the event has grown from 75 paid attendees to 450 (in 2008), and for this year’s fourth edition, Todd has chosen a new venue: St. Anthony’s of Padua Catholic Church, located at 320 N. Sherwood Avenue in Clarksville.

It should come as no surprise that in previous years, selected beer personages in attendance have fanned out after the Fest of Ale’s conclusion and visited other notable on-premise beer spots in Louisville metro.

With this in mind, NABC Grant Line (Rich O’s and Sportstime) is teaming up with Cavalier Distributing (Indianapolis) and sales rep Mike Walters of Left Hand Brewing Company (Colorado) to stage a post-Fest meet ‘n’ greet in the Prost room at Rich O’s.

Two rare Left Hand specialties will be on tap, and specially priced by the half-pint for the occasion:

Left Hand Oak-Aged Imperial StoutLeft Hand St. Vrain Tripple

Plus, Mike will be bringing the remainder of his Fest of Ale bottle samples, so if you missed them at the event, free evening nips will be available.

We’ll be starting around 8:30 p.m. and continuing until 10:30 p.m.

And, don't forget the weekend's other event: Great Flanagan's Beer Fest is Sunday, June 7. NABC will be there, too.

Apocalypse Cow- This complex double India pale ale has an intense citrus and floral hop aroma balanced by a velvety malt body which has been augmented with lactose milk sugar. With this different take on an IPA we have brewed an ale that is both pleasing to drink and, once again, “not normal.”

Jinx Proof- This refreshing continental-style pils has a light body combined with a pronounced noble hop aroma and a crisp dry finish. This is the perfect beer for easy flavorful drinking. Brewed in collaboration with our friends at Jinx Proof tattoo in Washington D.C. jinxprooftattoo.com

Look for them on tap here at the pub in a week or two and in liquor stores and shops shortly after.

Blackheart - English style IPA, a throwback historical ale brewed when English IPA’s were hopped up to last the long voyage from England to Colonial troops in India, using English malts, English hops, English yeast and aged slightly in toasted oak for a 19th Century taste 78 IBU 8.5% ABV $5 half-pint

Guest Draught Beer:Brugge Tripel de Ripple - highlighted by notes of vanilla and pear delivered from our strain of yeast, Quite approachable for a beer of such strength, Tripel de Ripple masks its alcohol beneath an impressive layer of complexity while maintaining its remarkable drinkability 9.85% a.b.v. $5 footed ale

Ommegang Rare Vos - Rare Vos is flemmish for “Sly Fox,” and the name of one of Brussels’ great cafes. It has a sweetly fruity malt character and yeasty spiciness. 6.5% a.b.v. $5 footed ale glass (4/22/09)

- Two Brothers Ebel’s Weiss - With nice, malty sweetness and a soft aroma of clove, vanilla and banana, this German-style hefe weizen is unfiltered for a glowing orange hue.

- Boulder Flashback 30th Anniversary Ale - is an India Brown Ale with 6.8% ABV. This is the first beer we’ve made here that uses one single hop variety (Cascade) in the recipe in five separate additions. The fresh Cascade hop aroma and flavor is perfectly balanced with the dark roasted grains, making Flashback a very unique beer. We’re calling it an India Brown Ale to help illustrate its flavor to the consumer. It’s hoppy like an IPA but dark and roasty like a Brown Ale. Put them together and voila! Flashback at its finest!

- Left Hand St. Vrain Tripel - Simply admiring our hazy golden Belgian-style Tripel in your wide-rimmed glass doesn’t even begin to reveal its complexity. The spicy aroma that streams upward with hints of wild flower honey and orange blossom is your first clue of the depth of St. Vrain Tripel. The sweetness from the malt makes itself known immediately, progressing to bittersweet honey and dried fruit flavors, and finishing out with the lingering earthiness from the Styrian Golding hops. The warming effect of the 9% ABV is your final indication that the initial simplicity masks St. Vrain’s beautiful intricacy.

- Coopers Vintage Ale - Brewed with choice malts and an extended top fermentation. This naturally conditioned ale experiences interactions between the robust malt, hop and yeast characteristics, to exhibit an intriguing journey of flavour development over a period of five years when stored under cellar conditions.

We are also holding our 4th Annual Keg Liquors Fest of Ale this Saturday, June 6th from 3 - 7 PM Over 30 different breweries and 150 different beers and wines will be available for sampling. For more information, please go to http://www.kegliquors.com/festofale.htm

We also have a wide selection of summer seasonals in stock that include great beers from Brooklyn, Anchor Steam, Leinenkugel's, Goose Island, Breckenridge, Bells, Upland, Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, Clipper City, Magic Hat, Two Brothers, and Great Divide.

Great news from Crown Liquors...I just heard my newest Shelton Brothers pre-order is in! Though they won't be there tomorrow, they will be in next week. Fingers crossed that the newest Peche Mortel will be on it...I'm pretty sure it will be, so you can count on some great new brews coming next week.

Stepping Right UpConey Island Lager is fast becoming a main attraction in the world of craft beer.

Craft beer has always had a strong grassroots, anti-establishment appeal. So you could say the launch of Coney Island Lager was a match made in heaven-or at least in Brooklyn. After all, can you think of a more anti-establishment place on earth than Coney Island with its sideshow freaks and carnival atmosphere?

While a developer has been negotiating with New York City to reinvent Coney Island, the beer's marketer, Shmaltz Brewing (which also markets He-Brew Beer), has craftily entered into an agreement to flow some of the brand's proceeds to the non-profit Coney Island USA, an arts organization trying to preserve Coney Island's unique culture. Both have benefited from sales which rose from 5,000 cases in 2007 to some 25,000 in 2008. Recently, Beverage World caught up with Jeremy Cowan, proprietor of Shmaltz Brewing, to find out more about this showy brand.

Beverage World: Where did you come up with the idea for Coney Island Lager?Jeremy Cowan: We actually were approached by the folks at Coney Island USA, who had seen our tribute beer to Lenny Bruce, Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A. and wanted to know if we would be interested in doing a project with them. They're an incredible arts organization. And so we decided to come up with an entirely new brand for Shmaltz Brewing using some of the iconography and imagery of old Coney Island, but really updated with super-contemporary graphics and illustration styles.

BW: Do you have any personal connection to Coney Island?JC: I'm a nice Jewish boy from the suburbs of the West Coast and doing He-Brew Beer for 12 years, I started spending more time in New York. My grandparents' generation all came through New York and they would tell me stories. New York has always been this place of nostalgia for me that I didn't actually experience until I was a grown-up.

BW: Where is the beer brewed?JC: The beer is actually brewed in Saratoga Springs, New York, by Mendocino Brewing Co. I work with the head brewer there, Paul McErlean, and we sit down and taste a ton of different stuff and really explore the flavors that we're looking for. And that's been a really satisfying part of the Coney Island line. We're taking somewhat traditional lager styles from Europe and the US, but putting an American craft beer spin on them.

BW: What about designing the labels?JC: It's a collaboration between my art director Matt Polacheck and a friend who is a tattoo artist in Brooklyn named Dave Wallin. The actual logo for the labels is a take-off on the Tillie face from the Steeple Chase Park from the 1880s, which was the biggest amusement institution at Coney Island for almost 100 years.

BW: How well is it selling in New York?JC: We have wonderful distribution in New York City and during the summers at Coney Island people have really seized onto the brand. Coney Island for 125 years was really considered America's playground and those images and icons are powerful history that we're trying to tie into. But what I think is really exciting is that we're looking towards the future of what Coney Island could be. There is a real vibrant community there, and we're right in the middle of all that. So it's pretty exciting.

Dear fellow beer drinkers, lend me your ear...There is a proposal in the works to increase the federal excise tax on beverage alcohol. We are looking at a 150% - 400% increase which translates to a $2 -$4 raise per case of beer and an additional $7+ on a case of wine.

Proponents of this increase claim that it's to help fund new healthcare initiatives and will help to offset healthcare costs of those with maladies resulting from alcohol abuse. In addition, the price increase will supposedly curb underage drinking. Funny, I thought there already was a law for that.

The beer industry alone touches the jobs of 1.9 million Americans. Think of not just the breweries, but package goods stores, distributers, grocery stores. restaurants, neighborhood bars etc... Increase the costs for these folks and not all will make it. In a time of frightening unemployment, why enact something that will result in more people being out of work? This really is back door prohibition. Like tobacco, they won't outlaw it, but will make sure that you can't afford it. Can you imagine paying $15 for a beer at a ballgame?

PLEASE - Email or call your senator or member of congress directly. To make it easy here are the links to find out who to contact.http://www.house.govhttp://www.senate.gov

Posted on our site a note that you can copy & paste into an email. It's that easy to make the difference!

KOTBR #90 - Medal Winners - We visit Barley Island and Brugge Brasserie in Broad Ripple to try some medal winning beers. Things get interesting when we are joined by some special guests, including Michael Phelps, Rob Halford, Glenn Danzig, and Brugge's very own Ted Miller.

Beer: The Pedal Pusher's Potion - Our first in depth feature receives support from Dogfish Head, Left Hand, Breckenridge Brewery, and Smuttynose, and draws in hits from hundreds of cyclists looking for a beer buzz.